WASHINGTON – A fed-up President Bush yesterday warned that “time is running out” for Saddam Hussein to give up his weapons of mass murder – and this is his last chance.

Bush flatly brushed off pleas for more time – maybe six months or a year – from U.N. weapons inspectors.

“Time is running out on Saddam Hussein. He must disarm. I’m sick and tired of games and deception. And that’s my view of timetables,” Bush told reporters in the Oval Office.

The president said this is Saddam’s last chance: “He’s been given 11 years to disarm. And so the world came together and we have given him one last chance to disarm. So far, I haven’t seen any evidence that he is disarming.”

As more U.S. warships steamed to the Persian Gulf, Bush chose the same stark words of warning for Saddam – “time is running out” – that he used in a radio address just before U.S. bombs began slamming Afghanistan’s Taliban regime on Oct. 8, 2001.

The crunch is coming as a new Gallup/CNN poll found Bush’s job rating has slipped below 60 percent for the first time since 9/11, although it’s still impressive at 58 percent. Americans clearly trust him because 70 percent rate him as honest and trustworthy.

Bush’s tough talk gained quick support from Britain, but U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the European Union, especially France, argued for more time. They suggested a new U.N. resolution might be needed before military action, a view Bush rejects.

“I don’t think we are there yet, so I don’t want to talk about war,” Annan said, adding he is “extremely worried” about humanitarian dangers if there’s military action in Iraq.

U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix and nuclear inspector Mohammed ElBaradei will go to Baghdad this weekend to demand Iraq comply with all their requests.

“We still need further cooperation on the part of Iraq,” ElBaradei said. “We need more information, we still need more interviews with Iraqis. We would like to see physical evidence of destruction of weapons of mass destruction.”